I am the type of guy that is a hands on learner. If you tell me how to do something, there is a good chance that I may not fully understand what you are talking about unless I see a picture or have an object in hand. This has always schooling a bit difficult for me. I have mentioned that before on this blog, so I won’t beat the proverbial dead horse.
All that to say, if I have had to work on a car, the house, or anything of that variety I often have to just dig in and once I tear it all apart I can often figure out how it works. When I gain this understanding I better grasp what the function of the gadget and can either fix it or find the problem.
It is really a matter of being able to deduce what the problematic issue is because by what you experience you know what the proper function of the gadget is.
Since it isn’t operating correctly, something is wrong. I have found out that this is often how reverse engineering works. The apparatus may not necessarily be broken, but in order to figure out how something works, you tear it apart.
That’s the layman’s explanation.
I have become interested in the thought, recently, in the idea of going through this process with God.
Basically, for example, because God is _______, then He must be ___________.
I have found in my brief journey through this that it wrecks my human rationale, that is, if I honestly try to rationalize who God is by this process then I have to admit things about God that defy my human ability to wrap my mind around God. I believe this is a good thing.
I won’t say this process is completely faultless, because I haven’t wrestled with it long enough.
The reason I bring it up, though, is what if we started with the thought that God is who He says He is first. I think a lot of times, those who have a desire to understand this God beyond comprehension try to build up an understanding (human) in the hopes of forming a concept of who God is. The problem is that God is spiritual (Yes, He was flesh too–Christ) so to try to understand him using human, physical rationale is faulty.
It isn’t just apple and oranges. It is something beyond even apples and astrophysics.
Yet, we keep trying.
The only way to grasp a deep understanding of God is for Him to reveal Himself to us. While god has been known to reveal Himself to those far from Himself, for those who believe, we spend much of our time preparing ourselves for the times that God does reveal Himself. We prepare. If we do not prepare (spiritually), we tend to veer wildly back into normalcy, comfort, and human rationale.
So, we do not prepare, and when God chooses to reveal, are we paying attention or explaining why God cannot be this, or would never do that…even if the Bible disagrees.
What if God is who/what He says He is…and we start there.
What if, instead of us (limited) trying to figure Him (unlimited) out, we trust that He is unlimited and is the only One who can explain Himself to we who are limited?
What if we finally humble ourselves to understand that, and in the meantime…while we are waiting for further revelation, we prepare and seek.
What if we were desperately dependent upon God for everything, including understanding Him?
What if we really relied on Him to explain Himself, and when He did, we were ok with that…even if it changed our mind on what we have always thought about Him?
What if we trusted that He was in control?
What if we believed that the people in power were placed there?
What if we are more limited than we would like to admit?
What if we humbled ourselves and prayed, in general, and then for revelation?
It seems kind of...I don't know..."duh"...and yet, it is really so much more.
As I said, I am still working through this and I am sure it isn’t ironclad…but it is very thought provoking to me. I hope it is to you as well. Love to hear from you. I am a learner, so feel free to give me different perspective as well.
2 comments:
If we really trusted God like you mentioned above, I think we all would have less stress related illnesses. I've heard it said... "Let go let God". I try to allow God to be who He says he is, and when I do life is whole lot easier.
"What if we believed that the people in power were placed there?"
Isn't that one hard to wrap your brain around? I find it to easy to say, "Well clearly we live in a fallen world and this leader was placed there by the enemy..."
In truth, God allows all things to happen and can use what we would call the worse circumstances to further his will if we let him (yes, even Disco).
I have personally seen him do great things through people that experienced horrible acts of evil.
This is an article of faith I'm learning more and more by the trials that I am carried through by him.
No matter what happens to me, God can use it to do great and wonderful things if I allow him to work in me and don't rely on myself, my understanding, my rational to fix/understand/deal with it.
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